Threatened Species Commissioner visits Pullen Pullen Reserve

Along with Pullen Pullen Reserve Manager Shelley Inglis, I recently hosted the Threatened Species Commissioner, Dr Sally Box, and two members of the Night Parrot Recovery Team – Dr Leo Joseph and Simon Nally – at our Pullen Pullen reserve.

Our visitors were taken around the reserve under the guidance of PhD student Nick Leseberg (UQ) – aka Night Parrot Nick – to hear about the status of his research and the substantial knowledge of Night Parrot ecology, conservation and management that he's steadily accumulating at Pullen Pullen. We visited a range of sites including the original location were Night Parrots were first rediscovered, tracts of spinifex where there are known roosting and nesting locations, the floodplains where the parrots feed and many other habitats on the reserve.

At the Pullen Pullen Lookout – one of many plateaus scattered throughout the reserve – we were treated to a fantastic display by two resident Grey Falcons swooping and hovering on updrafts. This was a clear reminder that Pullen Pullen, though purchased to protect the Night Parrot, is home to a range of other rare and threatened birds, mammals and reptiles of Queensland's arid Channel Country.

It was a pleasure to host Sally and tell her more about our research and management at Pullen Pullen, a reserve that was purchased through the generous support of our many, wonderful Bush Heritage supporters. In addition, the work we do at Pullen Pullen is sustained by strong partnerships we have developed with the Australian Government (National Environment Science Program, Threatened Species Recovery Hub), the University of Queensland (Green Fire Science lab), the Queensland Government Nature Refuge and Nature Assist programs and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.